Crowdfunding FAQ

What is a Beloud crowdfunding campaign?

Micro-crowdfunding projects connect artists who want to launch a project with people who are willing to help them with contributions. In return for these contributions, the artist proposes a series of rewards that their backers could choose.

There are two relevant aspects to be considered to launch a crowdfunding campaign as an artist. The first one is that you should have a base of potential backers interested in supporting your project. Crowdfunding artist projects are fundamentally based on the support of the artist's fans. Crowdfunding projects don't generate new fans, rather, they capitalise on previously existing ones. .

The second aspect is to define the project and the rewards in a way that motivate your fans to participate and then run an effective communication campaign. Your fans will support you according to their possibilities and attracted by your rewards. Be innovative with interesting rewards and suggest a wide economic range for contributions.

Beloud specialises in providing assistance to music artists and our crowdfunding campaigns are focused in this group.

We are not a traditional crowdfunding platform. Beloud crowdfunding is a technological service which provides the necessary tools so that any artist can develop a complete crowdfunding campaign on their own. It is the responsibility of the artist to manage the funds and rewards (income/refunds), whether or not the goal of the campaign is reached.

How does it work?

What should an artist do to launch their project? If you do not have an artist account, your first step is to create it. Once you have artist account, you must log in and in the administration area click on Crowdfunding. We will guide you through a form requesting the necessary data to generate the crowdfunding page, where you can establish the rewards you deem appropriate, their prices and the methods of shipping and payment you want to offer. It will establish a deadline for the completion of the project and the economic goal it wants to achieve within that term.

Once the project is launched, the artist will see in this management area each backer’s contribution in real time, with the ability to manage or modify the data relating to the contributions – backer’s contact data, observations, paid /unpaid.

How does this process work for a backer? For them it is even simpler, they check the content of the crowdfunding website of the artist they want to sponsor, choose the reward they prefer in exchange for their contribution and then they make the payment directly to the artist. Once the project is completed, the artist sends the reward.

Beloud Crowdfunding is a technological provider that puts the artist in contact with their backers, eliminating the intermediaries between them. The contributions go directly to the artist, Beloud does not receive the payments from the backers.

Beloud allows artists to launch crowdfunding campaigns to finance their projects. In this way, the backers — users who make contributions — have the opportunity to support the artists in a project and get in exchange products and unique experiences related to the projects, that we call rewards. So, in Beloud Crowdfunding the Artists will find a way to fully or partially finance their projects with the help and complicity of their audience, community and fans.

Beloud Crowdfunding is a service provided by Beloud technology SL. Beloud is a technological start-up that develops new ways to create sustainable models for music professionals (artists, music magazines, record labels, promoters). We create spaces where the music fan discovers a new way to entertain and relate to the Artists.Creating a sustainable model involves changing the paradigms of what we know and Beloud works in that direction. We build attractive, intuitive and customisable services that the music fan values enormously and provide the services and technological tools to music professionals to define, configure and exploit them.

Beloud is based on artists launching projects. A project has a clear goal (it can be to produce a record, to make a tour) and once it is completed, it will have some results. The backers support the artist in that project and in return receive rewards.

Many backers come originally from the artist's most direct environment, fans and friends. They support the artist in a new project in which they believe and want to see fulfilled; In others, the motivation is the reward they will receive from the artist they admire.If they like the project, the backers themselves will support the dissemination of the project, attracting new backers of their environment.Artist communication to attract the backer is crucial. It is necessary to make intelligent use of distribution lists, Facebook, Twitter and blogs that support the initiative, so that as many fans as possible know about the crowdfunding campaign and get attracted to it. This last factor depends on how the crowdfunding campaign itself is presented to the fans and the rewards proposed.

The creator of the project, the artist, is responsible for carrying it out as defined and delivering the rewards.Beloud is not involved in any aspect of the project beyond the logistics: we do not judge the artist's ability to carry out the project he defines. The backers are the ones who decide the value of a project and if they want to support the artist in getting the funds to run the project

A crowdfunding campaign is a public act of great visibility on the part of an artist and when they launch a project they expose their reputation and assume responsibility.Backers should look for artists who report in detail on the project they are going to carry out, how and in what terms. Artists must give as much information as is necessary for the backers to make the decision to support them with all the data.All the campaigns have a contact section where you can directly ask the artist all the information that you need in order to have the best understanding of the project.

Beloud is a technology platform that allows artists to launch their own crowdfunding campaigns. We do not investigate the artist's ability to complete or not a project they have defined. We simply provide the tools that the artist needs to launch and manage their patronage campaigns.

In case you sense that our general terms have been violated or that there has been an infringement of the copyright, trademark or spam you can inform us at the following address: crowdfunding@beloud.co

If you have questions related to the activity, or incidents of the Beloud Crowdfunding service please send an email to crowdfunding@beloud.co. If your doubts are related to a particular artist or campaign, you can contact the artist directly in the contact information published on the crowdfunding page of the project.

The cost of launching a crowdfunding campaign with Beloud corresponds to 5% + VAT of the total project revenue.In the case of the Beloud Crowdfunding service, the contributions of the backers always go directly from the backer to the artist as soon as they are made, Beloud only discounts its commission of 5% + VAT of each payment.If a backer pays with PayPal, the amount will go to the artist's PayPal account; in case of transfer (or direct payment) to the account provided by the artist (in that case, once the artist has received this amount by the backer, in the following transaction with payment with credit card, the commission will be deducted before sending the amount to PayPal).PayPal will apply its financial cost and in case of transfer/entry into account none.The artist chooses the payment methods that will enable for the backer\’s payment (PayPal being mandatory, and bank transfer optional).

When the backer selects the reward they want, we present a screen to provide all their data. The backer can choose to remain anonymous or have his/her name or pseudonym displayed, as well as be subscribed to the artists newsletter. Then he/she must accept the conditions of the service.Finally, the backer selects their preferred payment method (among which the artist has chosen to activate). Once the order is completed, an automatic email is sent to both the backer and the artist with the complete order data.

In many occasions, there are backers who may miss the end date of the campaign. We give you the option to allow the backer, once the campaign has finished, to continue contributing for a few additional days, which are the extra days. The maximum is 7 days.

We allow the artist to select the following payment methods:- Transfer: for this the artist must provide us the complete (national and international) data of the account so that they are included in the order confirmation email to the backers who have selected this form of payment.- Pay with credit card or direct through PayPal (mandatory).

Usual rewards are linked to the project itself such as a copy of a CD, a vinyl, a limited edition of a merchandising object or concert tickets. You can also offer more personal rewards such as a personal call from the band, a particular music class given by a member of the group, a visit to the recording studio...

We recommend that you try to define a wide range of payment options. This will allow your backers to choose between them depending on their possibilities and their willingness to support the project.Additionally, we offer the possibility for the artists who wish it, to enable the option of “free contribution” where the backer will donate the amount he wants.

The options you have when defining the shipping costs are as follows:- Shipping costs included in the cost of the reward. This option is the easiest to manage, but if you have international orders the shipping costs will easily soar.- Shipping costs for each reward by geographical area: you define the shipping cost of each package to different regions. For example, you can define that the reward of a CD has a shipping cost of € 1 in Spain, € 2.2 in Europe and € 10 for the rest of the world.

In this case, you decide if you can go ahead with the project by obtaining the remaining funding by other means; or, in case of not carrying out the project, you must return the money to the backers (this will entail the cost of the PayPal commissions and an 85% repayment of the Beloud commissions).

The process is simple and we are going to help, guiding you in each step.- Once you are logged in your artist account, go to the "Crowdfunding" section of your artist administration area and click on "Create your campaign".- Through a form, you will be entering the data of your campaign: personal data, text, video, images, logo, description and cost of rewards, type of payment methods, duration, desired release date- Once you have defined all the data of the campaign, you will be able to see it before the launch — if everything is ready, launch your campaign!

The main page of the campaign shows the data of each contribution in real time. There you will see the number of backers associated with each reward and the amounts obtained.Each time a backer makes an order you will receive an email to the email address you provided us with the information of the same. Additionally, in the artist admin area, you will have visibility and control over each of the orders.

In each order, backers are requested to provide their complete data in order to facilitate the delivery of rewards and contact with them. You will receive all the information that the backer provides: name, address, telephone, email.

Through the BeePro Artist tool you will manage all the data of the orders.You will have a generic view where you can search for orders by name, order number or order type. You can edit each order detail and perform the following actions:- See name, surname, address, telephone, comments.- Change an order from "Not paid" to "Paid": in the cases of bank transfer when you receive the income. This greatly facilitates the management of payment control. When an order is changed to "Paid" an automatic email is sent to the backer indicating that the payment has been received.- Indicate that the order has been sent. This allows effective control of orders shipped or not. When an order is changed to “Sent” an automatic email is sent to the backer indicating that the reward has been shipped.- Enter an internal note associated with the order (for example, it may indicate that a part of the order is still to be shipped).

The issues that will be discussed below have been prepared to prepare you for the most frequent situations that you should know about. However, this information is not intended to be used by any taxpayer in order to avoid penalties related to taxes, nor be used in the inspection or verification procedures carried out by the Public Treasury, but are merely indicative information which does not take into consideration the particularities relevant to the specific case at hand. Therefore, we recommend that you consult with your manager, who is the best person to guide you about your specific case.

In general, crowdfunding is legally qualified as an “advance on account” of a future purchase or acquisition of a good or service. That is to say, the backers are not making donations as defined by law, but are advancing funds for a good or service that they will receive in the future (for example, tickets for the concert of the artist of which they are backers).

They will be treated as any income related to the economic activity of the originator of the project. Depending on whether this is a legal entity or physical, business or professional, the tax that would apply corresponds to a company or to a natural person.

The originator of the project must pay to the Public Treasury the VAT derived from the operation, being able to deduct the VAT of all the necessary expenses for the development of his project. In other words, the artist has the responsibility to pay the VAT.The backer, legal person or physical, business or professional, in the development of a business or professional activity, can deduct the supported VAT, as long as the contribution is made in the development of their business activity.

Whenever we consider that the contributions are a payment on account of a delivery of goods or a future service delivery, delivery or provision that will be made in the development of a business activity, then it should effectively follow that the originator should register.

The beneficiary of the contributions may deduct this expense as any other expense of the activity, both in the income tax on natural persons (in the case of business and professional persons), or in corporation tax (in the case of the legal entities).

Provided that the contributions are made by a legal person or a natural person who has the status of entrepreneur or professional, and are carried out in the course of their economic activity, these will be considered tax deductible expense in corporation tax or tax on the income of natural persons, respectively.Otherwise, that is to say, if the backer is a natural person who does not have the status of professional, the contribution is not deductible.

If you have not had any sale on that reward, you can modify or eliminate that reward.In case there has already been a sale of that reward, contact us through the email cs@beloud.co and we will help you to resolve it.

You can make contributions that are made public through the pseudonym that you decide or they could be anonymous, your name does not have to be public. In order to send you the reward, the artist needs your contact information. You can make a donation, which does not seek a reward in return, but in this case the process is the same and the artist will receive the same data.

You will always have access to a direct contact email with the artist. In addition, their web pages and Facebook profile are defined. On the part of Beloud, before launching a crowdfunding project of an artist we verify that the person in charge of the project is a person or company authorised by the artist to launch this campaign.In any case, you can get a better idea of the artist\’s concrete crowdfunding project by reading the information included on their Crowdfunding page.

The campaign may have reached the economic goal for which it was created, but it will continue until the time limit established by the artist expires. You can consider that if a project is very successful and the artist manages to raise more than what he has proposed, they may establish elements such as a better edition, a larger production run…

In the web page “Beloud Crowdfunding” belonging to the artist, there is a follow up on the contributions, a list where they all appear. Additionally, once you have made a contribution, you will receive an email with the confirmation of the contribution, personal data and the selected reward. If you have a Beloud user account, in the “my orders” area you can see the detail of the status of your contribution. You can register any time for free with your email and you will see the information.

In order to make a contribution, you have to complete a form in which you introduce your contact information and the means of payment. Through this form the artist receives all the necessary information to get the reward. In addition to this information, the form has a field for comments or notes, in case you need to clarify something or add an extra comment.

Once the order has been placed, you cannot make changes to it, but you can contact the artist if you for example want to modify some information of your order (such as your contact address), by contacting the artist through their contact information which will always be visible on the artist's Crowdfunding page.

When you place an order, you can choose to receive information from the artist through their newsletters. Even if you have selected that you are interested, the artist has a legal obligation to unsubscribe you from its newsletters as soon as you request it.